@tour2ma said:

Its never that simple...I agree....

But...we abandoned the run too soon.....when we had no passing game to replace it.....

Ill stick with my main bitch.....which is....you go with what works and, this year, the only thing that worked was the running game....

They returned to it yesterday and were closer to success than they've been most of the season....not saying it would've been the difference, but putting the team on Kessler or RG's back clearly wasnt the right choice.....

@mudfly said:

Things are never that simple are they?

Bito went down in game 5; Greco in game 12. Our opening, four-game string of 120+ yd rushing ended in game 5. Since then we've had 3 in excess of that mark, two of which were vs. Cinci.

Game 5 was the Pats. They held us to a season low 27 yd rushing. They showed how to do what the first four games told teams they had to do... make us beat them through the air. Bito's loss simply made doing so easier.

The "more carries" multiplier is problematic at best. Yards gained late when teams are in prevent are stat padders.

More later... kick off approacheth..

@domcucch1994 said:

Right....another one of my season long bitches......why not more carries???......even early in the season, when he was smoking hot, we continued to pass pass pass, even tho the passing game completely sucked.....

This season we passed almost 70% of the time.....and ran only 30%.....nice balance.....

@topdawg31 said:

we need better OL not RB, with a good OL opening holes I believe Crow would be in the 1500 yrd range.

Lets look at the numbers.....Crow averaged 11 carries per game(pathetic) and has 800 yards......(top backs like Elliot, etc get 16-21 per game)

So....give it to him 20 times a game and what do you have?.......something closer to 1500 yards.....

@tour2ma said:

Crow's a good back, but let's not get carried away... for once...

I honestly dont think he's a 1500 yr guy.....but the #'s indicate he was vastly under used....

As was Johnson......

Our O is so terrible and there was zero attempt to establish a smash mouth running game, even when the early #'s indicated we could be one of the top running teams out there.....

I know folks will say we passed because we were always playing catch up....but after losing game after game, why not try something else.....why not attempt to establish a run game and control what you can???

Go with what works.....(we didnt)....we abandoned it, actually.....

We need an OL, a better pass rush, and a secondary before we even address our skill positions.

Crow could easily be at 1000+ yards this season if he had more carries

Stable center usually = stable line.

Cooper is in fact as good as his draft position.. Bitonio and Paz have solidified their positions.. Picking 2 from Greco/Drango/Coleman/Reiter to keep as backups in 2017 is a good problem to have. We put one of our top4 picks on Will Ferrell - excuse me, Pat Elflein - and problem solved.

@wargograw said:

Really believe he is a special player, time will tell.

@wargograw said:

Perine stats are incredible and in 2014 minus Joe Mixon he was phenomenal. If Perine stays healthy, which has been a problem in 15 & 16, he'll be a top 3-5 back in 2017. Stoops did what he did because Keith Ford, who is solid, isn't in the same discussion as Mixon or Perine. Mixon is the real deal and he'll prove it next year on someone's roster in the NFL.

@orion said:

Agree as well, but should we draft a QB high and Kess develops into a contender for the long-term starting job as well... that;s a problem I'd like to have for a change.

@baconhound said:

If he was as good as you claim, Perrine wouldn't get anywhere near the carries he's gotten.

I don't get out the pitchforks over how a coach chooses to discipline his players. I just don't really have the energy to care about stuff like that. Having said that, Stoops is an idiot for doing so much to keep a RB when, as you said, he had two other studs on the roster.

@baconhound said:

Absolutely if he wasn't sharing carries with Perine his numbers would be off the charts. Mixon is faster than Murray with much better passing catching skills. I'm not sure of measurables but football speed he is faster than Peterson but Peterson is a bulldozer. Therein a reason Stoops sold his soul with Keith Ford & Perine on the roster, Mixon is the real deal.

Ted Ginn is faster than both these guys. Doesn't make him a better RB.

@poeticg said:

I agree that that's probably the best way to look at Kessler at this point.

We should enter the offseason with that mindset.

@texasag1969 said:

No he hasn't but he will post Sugar Bowl. He was asked yesterday during his presser if he would come back to OU next year and he said that he was focused on the Bowl game.

suspended, maybe jail time, etc etc etc.

Then the same people who wanted to draft him, would bitch and bitch etc etc... forever and 27 more Sundays...

NO. The Browns now draft comprehensively, including character, love for the game, locker room addition or

subtraction....all that stuff. Stop the cycle of drafting players who are punks mentally while only looking at college videos and the

combine.

@calfoxwc said:

Agree. Just don't trade any picks and they can fix things in a hurry.